The Kindness of Strangers

Last week was a whirlwind here at Refugee Resettlement. In less than 24 hours, we had eighteen new arrivals, beginning with a family of twelve. Our case managers and donations coordinator were stretched thin, so I stepped in to lend a helping hand wherever I could. This ended up being a trip to Wal-Mart with Refugee Resettlement’s program director, Toc.

Toc and I were given a list of items to buy for the family of twelve and set off for the store. We decided that our plan of attack would be to fill a shopping cart, check out, and then do it again. We ended up filling five shopping carts with items such as pillows, blankets, toothpaste, rice cookers, microwaves, and towels for the family; things that would make their new apartments feel like a home.

As this was our first experience doing the shopping for an incoming family, we had no idea as to what to expect. What we found, was a store full of wonderful employees very willing to help out and even take an interest in what we were doing. Toc and I returned to the same cashier twice because she was full of curiosity about refugee resettlement and wanted to know about working with refugees. It turned out that she came to the United States as a child from the Soviet Union. It’s a small world.

When it was time to take all of the things we bought for the family to the apartments, two complete strangers volunteered to help us carry things from the car to the second floor apartments. The men were standing around not doing anything and just jumped right in and carried some very heavy items for us. They served as a great reminder that even though the world can seem cold sometimes, there are some wonderful people out there who are willing to help whether there is something in it for them or not.

The apartments for the family of twelve were completed mere minutes before the family arrived. Their long journey from Somalia to Kenya to Portland, OR came to an end with a lot of help from store clerks, new neighbors, and the Somali community members who brought them dinner. It was an exciting twenty four hours to get to see all of the help from total strangers and to be part of the arrival process.

A Safe Haven in Southeast Portland

Over the course of the last two weeks, we’ve been posting on our Facebook page a series of articles about the refugee community’s positive influence on the Rockwood neighborhood in far Southeast Portland.

Portland’s refugee community has helped Barberry Village Apartments become a safe place for families to live. What was once a dilapidated and dangerous place to be is now a great place for children to grow up surrounded by various ethnicities from across the world. On any given day you can find the children of the apartment complex playing soccer while their parents talk in a smattering of languages from Arabic to Somali to Burmese. 

Check out the articles here:

Refugee Families Find Sanctuary in Rockwood

From Syria to Portland- One Family's Story

Barberry Village- Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

A Citizenship Class for Refugees?

Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement is proud to announce that we are working hard to unveil a citizenship preparation program. The curriculum for the class is being created with the help of two interns, one from University of Portland and the other from Warner Pacific College. With their help, we are hoping to have the class ready to start early next year.

Why a citizenship class?

Refugees who are resettled in America are eligible to apply for citizenship five years after arrival. A refugee who receives government benefits such as food stamps, social security or TANF (temporary assistance for needy families) have to become a citizen within their first seven years to retain these benefits.

If a child is under 18 when their parent applies for citizenship, they will automatically become a citizen when their parent passes the test. If a child turns 18 before the parent applies, they will have to take the test individually.

What is the citizenship test?

The citizenship test is comprised of two portions- English and United States civics. The civics portion includes US history from the Indians to September 11, 2001; as well as questions on the basic functions of our government and the major players. There are one hundred possible questions that the applicant is asked to study, but they only need to answer six out of ten correctly. Some of the questions are simple, for example: who is the president of the United States right now? Other questions are more difficult like: name two cabinet level positions.  

The English portion is mostly verbal, but there is also a written section.  This portion starts immediately as the applicant meets their interviewer. It typically starts with small talk as the applicant and interviewer walk to the interview room with questions like, “how did you get here today,” or “is it cold outside?” When the interview has officially started, the interviewer will ask questions about the applicant’s application form to check that the information is correct and to continue to test the applicant’s verbal ability. Questions like: “you used to live on Pine Street, but now you live on Maple Grove?” These questions can be a little tricky.

The written section consists of writing one of three sentences that is read out loud. The words used in the sentences are vocabulary words from the civics portion of the test. An example of a sentence the applicant may be asked to write is, “George Washington was the first president.”

How you can help?

When the curriculum is finalized, Catholic Charities will be looking for volunteers to help run the classes.

If you are interested in this or want to know more, please contact Emily at ereznicek@catholiccharitiesoregon.org or 503-688-2684.

Open For Business

                Despite governmental differences, the staff at Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement is working hard to meet the needs of their many clients. The RRP case managers are still as busy as ever visiting their clients and ensuring that the resettlement process goes as smoothly as possible.

The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) has cancelled new arrivals through late October. In a letter to its partner agencies, PRM wrote, “We have just made the difficult decision to extend the refugee travel moratorium until October 21 because it is unclear whether certain federally-funded services and benefits will be available to arriving refugees.”

Rest assured that when the moratorium does lift, Catholic Charities will be ready to resettle new families. In the meantime, we will be here for our clients that have already found a new home in Portland.

Welcome to PDX

Do you remember the first time you were in an airport? I don’t remember when I first flew, but I can imagine that it was for something fun like going to see family.  Imagine now, that your first time at the airport was to leave the place that you call home and once you walked through that door you were not ever going back to your home country again. Such is the life of many refugees who come to the United States.

On Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to go on my first airport pickup with a case manager. There was a rare afternoon arrival and the case manager was willing to take me along, so I jumped on the chance. Early in the afternoon, Brendon and I climbed into the van and headed to Portland International Airport. The van was parked and five minutes later, the family of three appeared at the security checkpoint. Brendon and I introduced ourselves and the five of us set off for baggage claim. Within minutes we had the family’s bags and Brendon went to retrieve the van.

Once the van was loaded up, Brendon drove the family to their new apartment. Catholic Charities’ donations coordinator has provided the family with a bed, couches, chairs, pots, pans, a refrigerator and Brendon has provided food for the family. They are now the third Iraqi family to join the apartment complex and so they were greeted with friendly faces speaking their native language. Before we left, Brendon answered any questions they had about the apartment and how things worked. Finally, Brendon insured that the family would be able to have a home cooked meal with one of the other Iraqi families and we departed to let the family start to settle in to their new home. Thursday, they will meet with their case manager and their time in resettlement will officially begin.

Personally, I cannot imagine going through this process as a refugee. I cannot know how it feels to leave home and know that I probably will not go back. Nor what it feels like to land in a new country where an unfamiliar person is waiting to pick you up and take you to a strange apartment in a city which you’ve never visited. With all of these factors going into the new family’s arrival on Wednesday, they seemed to be handling everything pretty well, though I can imagine that having neighbors who also speak Arabic is helping with the process.  

The New Kid

Greetings to all Catholic Charities of Oregon Refugee Resettlement Volunteers and Friends!

My name is Emily and I am the new Jesuit Volunteer at the Catholic Charities of Oregon Refugee Resettlement Program. I was born and raised in Dallas, TX and attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. In high school and college, I was able to take advantage of many service opportunities including two trips to Central America, two summers spent in Poland teaching English and a semester abroad learning and doing service work in Northern Italy.

Emily Reznicek,
the 2013-2014 Jesuit Volunteer

It was during my semester in Bologna, Italy that I first worked with refugees and asylees at a house for men on the outskirts of the city. Much of my time there was spent talking to the staff about the services in Bologna, and talking to the men about their lives at home, en route to Italy and in Italy. It was this experience that led me to Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest to work with refugees again.

During my first year in JVC NW, I served in Boise, ID at Catholic Charities of Idaho’s Family Strengthening Center. There, I worked with refugees whose resettlement period was at an end, but still needed some assistance in adjusting to life in America. Many of my clients’ needs were very basic and included anything from help with paying rent or utilities to filling out food stamp re-certification paperwork. I also taught an English Language Learning class to adults two days a week where we worked on basic things like colors and seasons, as well as civics and citizenship prep. My time in Boise made me want to learn even more about refugees, which was a major part of my decision to come to Catholic Charities of Oregon as a second year Jesuit Volunteer.

This year, I will be assisting case managers in taking their clients to appointments; helping children enroll in and get acclimated to school in their new country; and talking to wonderful volunteers like you about the service opportunities available through Catholic Charities of Oregon Refugee Resettlement. In the little bit of time since I have started working here, we have already come up with some new volunteering ideas and will soon be reaching out to meet some dedicated volunteers to get these programs off the ground.

I’ve now been living in Portland for a little over a week and am excited to be here and to continue the learning process that I started a year ago in Boise. I look forward to meeting the volunteers that help Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement to better assist the newly arrived refugees. I have a feeling that it is going to be a good year and that you volunteers will help make that so.

If you have any questions for me about Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement, volunteer opportunities or Jesuit Volunteer Corps NW please do not hesitate to call me at (503) 688-2684, or email me at ereznicek@catholiccharitiesoregon.org.

Ramadan

Ramadan began today for most Muslim refugees living here in Portland.

Ramadan is a month of fasting that is inaugurated by the sighting of the new moon and also ended in that way. Because it is based on moon phases, Ramadan can begin and end on different days in different countries, but usually lasts from 29-31 days.

Ramadan is considered to be the holiest month in the Islamic calendar because it commemorates when Muslims believe that their prophet, Mohammed, received the Quran from Allah. During the month, all healthy adults are required to fast from food, water, sexual relations, impure thoughts, words, and deeds from sun up to sunset. Work also slows way down and office hours are modified so that people can be home during the heat of the day.

When I was living in Morocco, many kids often tried to fast part of the month or parts of days though they were not required to do so. Families and friends would gather at sunset to break the fast together with dates, a sweet called shabakiya and a special soup called harira. Another meal that included meat was also eaten later in the evening as well as a light snack right before dawn.

All over the world, in addition to fasting, Muslims also increase their charitable giving, recitation of the Quran and adherence to prayer. Ramadan is one of the 5 essential practices of Islam that include prayer 5 times a day, verbal acknowledgement that Allah is One and that Mohammed is his prophet, the pilgrimage to Mecca for all who are able, and charitable giving.

Ramadan ends with a celebration called Aid el Fitr that refers to the final breaking of the fast. In Morocco, families and friends gather to eat and give gifts, usually of clothing, to children.

If you are volunteering with a Muslim family, ask them about their special traditions around Ramadan and about the best time to visit. You can also wish them “Ramadan Kareem” which means “A gracious Ramadan (to you)”.



A typical Moroccan Ramadan sundown table setting




Moroccan families buying clothes for Aid el Fitr